SimCity BuildIt

Specializations in SimCity BuildIt

Sims love a city with culture, style, and a thriving tourism economy. Choose one or more areas of specialization to boost both population and happiness in your city. There are six to choose from: What identity will you choose for your city? Level Up to unlock all six specializations!

Tap the services icon on the lower right of your screen to see the list of specializations.

Tap any active specialization to see its residential zone coverage visually mapped out over your city (if you have no buildings placed toward a specialization, there will be no coverage to view). ProTip: Super-efficient Mayors can quickly scroll between each specialization (and services too) by clicking the yellow arrows now visible near the top of the screen.

When selected in the specializations menu, each type of specialization will give you information about its effect on your city.

Area – How much of your city will a specialization cover or protect? The bigger, the better!

Population Boost – How many new residents will eagerly move to the area surrounding this building? Offering this specialization will increase the population by the percentage shown.

Building Price – What will it cost to get the building up and running?

Requirements – What population level must your city reach before this building unlocks?

Choose your specializations by deciding which activities you think your citizens will appreciate most as well as how you might want your city to look. Remember that just like you and me, your constituents are individuals with different tastes and ideas of fun, so they might still want whatever they don’t have!

Different specializations will lead you toward different City Achievements as well. For most specializations, the relevant HQ must first be placed in your city to unlock the rest of the buildings in that category. The HQ will count toward your coverage area for the specialization effects, too, so be sure to place it near residential zones.

To build - When you’ve selected which specialization building you want, drag it onto the map. Make sure you check out the blue bars appearing on your map! These visually represent the population boost you’ll get if you place the specialization building where you’re hovering. The white outline below the moving building shows where its footprint will be. It must be next to a road and not overlapping any other property. Zoom or rotate your view to see the location from different angles if you need more detail, then tap the green checkmark to confirm your choice.

To move – Tap and hold the specialization building you’d like to move, drag it to a different spot, and tap the green checkmark if you’re satisfied with the new placement. Watch the effects on the surrounding residential zones as you move the building; if you’re moving the good stuff away from your citizens they’ll move away too! And wherever you place the specialization building, remember to have a road next to it so it can still keep your city busy.

To bulldoze – Do you really want to demolish this building? But it’s so pretty and useful! You’ll get some Simoleons back if you decide to remove parks or specialization HQs, but buildings bought with Golden Keys can’t be refunded so make sure you absolutely need the space. Tap to confirm your decision. Remember, if you bulldoze a specialization building and don’t replace it, your population boost will be lost!

Types of specialization

Parks – An oasis in a big city gives your citizens room to breathe. The green regions displayed on your specialization view map are the residential zomes that can access your parks.

Gambling – Cha-ching! Your citizens love to gamble, and some of these casinos are out of this world! The purple regions displayed on your specialization view map show the residential zones able to access the gambling buildings.

Entertainment – Who doesn’t like to be entertained? Hotels, stadiums, performance venues…and that spiky-looking building is very familiar! The purple regions displayed on your Specialization view map are those residential zones covered by your entertainment buildings.